Nick Begich III is the Republican who represents Alaska's at-large district in the U.S. House, and he is on the November 3, 2026 ballot for re-election. His district is the whole state. His May 22, 2025 yes helped the One Big Beautiful Bill Act squeak through the House, 215 to 214. The final law got his yes on July 3, 2025.
By KFF's estimate, Alaska loses $2.015 billion in federal Medicaid money over the next decade. It raises Alaska's cost of running SNAP by about $11 million a year. Begich's votes also decided both 2025 budget resolutions, which set the savings targets behind those cuts.
About Nick Begich III
- Full name
- Nicholas J. Begich III (Republican); his Clerk of the House profile names him as Alaska's at-large member
- Current role
- Serves in the U.S. House for Alaska's at-large district, which covers the whole state
- In office since
- Has represented Alaska's at-large district since January 3, 2025
- Seeking
- Re-election to Alaska's at-large House seat; the general election is November 3, 2026
- Key votes
- February 25, 2025: H.Con.Res. 14, the budget resolution; May 22, 2025: H.R. 1 in the House; July 3, 2025: H.R. 1 final passage; April 16, 2026: H.Res. 1156, praising the law
What Nick Begich III Is Responsible For
- Medicaid. The House version cleared 215 to 214 on May 22, 2025, on Begich's deciding vote; and on July 3 his yes went to the final law. KFF puts Alaska's Medicaid loss at $2.015 billion over ten years, and the state projects 9,452 to 13,611 Alaskans losing coverage under the work rule that starts in January 2027.
- Rural health care. Rural Alaska loses $824 million in federal Medicaid money over ten years under the law Begich voted for, by KFF's estimate.
- Food assistance. Begich voted for a law that cuts SNAP by $187 billion through 2034, by CBPP's count. Alaska now pays about $11 million more a year to run the program, and the wider work rules reach Alaska on January 1, 2027.
- Medicare. Begich voted for the first law ever to cancel Medicare for current enrollees, lawfully present immigrants without green cards; for those identified in the grace period, coverage stops February 1, 2027, the date the Center for Medicare Advocacy draws from CMS's proposed rule. The law's tax cuts pull the hospital fund's shortfall a quarter earlier, within 2033, for Alaska's 118,047 Medicare enrollees.
- Nursing homes and home care. Begich's vote for the law put the federal nursing-home staffing standard on hold until 2034. Seven in ten Alaska nursing-home residents, 71%, rely on Medicaid as their main payer; another 734 Alaskans sat on a waiting list for Medicaid home care in 2026.
- Disability and addiction care. Begich voted for Medicaid work rules under which disabled expansion adults must prove an exemption. Alaska Medicaid also covers 11,500 people through its disability group, whom the law's $2.015 billion cut for the state reaches. In 2021, 66% of Alaska's Medicaid adults with opioid use disorder were in the expansion group the rules cover.
- The child tax credit. 41,000 Alaska kids, one in four, fall short of the whole child tax credit under the law Begich voted for, because of low family earnings, Columbia's poverty researchers count.
- Social Security. Social Security takes on $168.6 billion of new costs under the law Begich voted for, which pulls the retirement fund's shortfall up to late 2032. At that point the average Alaska retiree faces a $483 monthly cut, CRFB estimates.
- Student loans. The law Begich voted for ended Grad PLUS loans and moved new borrowers to a repayment plan that costs Alaska borrowers leaving SAVE $2,414 more a year on average.
- Veterans. Veterans lost their pass on SNAP's three-month limit under the law Begich voted for; about 4,000 Alaska veterans live in SNAP households.
- Taxes and the deficit. Begich decided the April 2025 budget plan that allowed $4.5 trillion in added deficits and voted for a law that gives the top tenth of households $13,600 a year as households at the very bottom fall $1,200 behind. On April 16, 2026, he voted for H.Res. 1156, which praised the law.
- Planned Parenthood. For one year, Planned Parenthood got no Medicaid payments under the law Begich voted for. From October 6, 2025, its Medicaid patients in Alaska were expected to pay on a sliding-fee scale, the Alaska Beacon reported, and nearly 30 of its health centers closed nationwide that year.
- Clean energy and jobs. Begich voted for the law that repealed the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and delayed the methane fee to 2034. Energy Innovation projects that under its energy provisions "Workers suffer 760,000 lost jobs by 2030."
- Immigration enforcement money. Begich voted for a law that "directs $170.7 billion toward immigration and border enforcement". By March 2026, "nearly 70,000 people are in ICE detention, the highest number in several years", NPR reported.
- The consumer bureau. Begich voted for a law that shrank how much the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may draw, to 6.5% of a Federal Reserve benchmark, down from 12%. The Congressional Research Service puts the new limit near $446 million for fiscal 2025, against $823 million before.
- Silencers and short-barreled guns. The $200 tax federal law put on silencers and short-barreled rifles and shotguns is gone; Begich voted for the law that ended it. A court then ruled that registration had lost its legal footing, and the ATF dropped the requirement on October 9, 2026.
How This Page on Nick Begich III Is Sourced
Every vote on this page links to its Clerk of the House roll call, such as House passage of H.R. 1 on May 22, 2025. Alaska figures link to their sources, including KFF's state Medicaid estimates, the Alaska Department of Health's work requirement model and the Social Security Administration's Alaska statistics. National figures link to the Congressional Budget Office, KFF, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and others, and this page was last updated on October 27, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions About Nick Begich III
What is Nick Begich III's record under Trump?
Nick Begich III cast yes votes for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act at House passage and at final passage, and seven of his votes on the bill were decisive, including House passage on May 22, 2025, 215 to 214. The law costs Alaska's Medicaid program $2.015 billion in federal funds across ten years, KFF estimates, and leaves 25,000 more Alaskans uninsured in 2034. In April 2026 he voted to praise the law.
Did the One Big Beautiful Bill Act need Nick Begich III's vote to clear the House?
Yes. Nick Begich III was one of 215 yes votes when the House version passed 215 to 214 on May 22, 2025. A no from him would have sunk it. Final passage on July 3, 2025, 218 to 214, also had his yes.
What does Nick Begich III's vote cost Alaska's Medicaid program?
Nick Begich III's vote helped enact a law that takes $2.015 billion in federal Medicaid funding from Alaska across a decade, KFF estimates, 11% of what the state would otherwise get. Rural Alaska's share of that loss is $824 million. Medicaid covered 210,400 Alaskans in 2025.
Did Nick Begich III vote for Medicaid work requirements in Alaska?
Yes. Nick Begich III voted for the law that requires Medicaid expansion adults to log 80 hours of work, volunteering, job training or school each month; Alaska begins enforcing it in January 2027. The state health department projects 9,452 to 13,611 Alaskans losing coverage.
Did Nick Begich III vote to make Alaska pay more for SNAP?
Yes. Nick Begich III voted for the law that cuts the federal share of SNAP's administrative costs to 25 percent, which raises Alaska's cost about $11 million a year. A share of benefit costs, nearly $40 million at today's error rate, may follow by 2030.
Did Nick Begich III vote for the 2026 House resolution that hailed the law?
Yes. On April 16, 2026, Nick Begich III voted for H.Res. 1156, which passed 219 to 207. The resolution calls the law the "Working Families Tax Cuts," while the Congressional Budget Office found the lowest-income households lose about $1,200 a year under it.
Last updated: 2026-10-27